Just

I sat across from a friend a few weeks ago, watching huge tears well up in her eyes. She’d had one of those magic yet painful moments when God connects all the dots and shows you exactly what He meant when He urged you to X, Y, or Z. She was also hurting. Feeling overwhelmed by life, her responsibilities, and her inability to fix everything around her and inside her. She didn’t feel good enough. She felt like “just a mom” and “just a wife.” She wasn’t sure if she should spend time mending her broken spirit because, after all, what happened in the past was “just not that big of a deal.”

She admitted that God has been pointing out to her the power of “just,” and just how often the tiny word had twisted truths around in her heart.

I held her hand and told her I wished that she could see herself through my eyes–beautiful, priceless, loving, compassionate, passionate, giving, and determined. Against all odds, pursuing God like salmon fighting their way against the current. Refusing to give up or give in to the easier route. This woman–my friend–is one of the very few people I can say that I truly admire. I’m grateful for her. I want to be like her. She fights the good fight, and it drives me to do the same.

She is not just a friend.

I wish she could see herself the way I see her. But even more, I wish she could see herself the way God sees her. Sitting across the room, cheering her on as she sings while doing the laundry, searches for the best ways to raise her children, and texts her friend a verse that might help her through the day. Sending her hugs, words, sunsets, and songs to fill just the right holes in her soul at just the right time. Fighting against the Forces feeding her lies about how all these things are just not that important in the grand scheme of things. Feeling tears well up in His own eyes when He sees her own.

He is just overwhelmed with love for her.

And for the rest of us, too.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be opened.” -Ephesians 1:18